Andre Ethier: Future 30 HR Hitter?

by Ray Guilfoyle on Apr 29, 2009 4:00 PM EDT in Baseball

Last year, after the Dodgers traded for Manny Ramirez, Andre Ethier went on a tear, hitting .462-.557-.692-1.249 in September, hitting in front of Manny.

This year, Ethier is hitting 4th, behind Manny, and is still raking. Through April 27th, Ethier is hitting .301-.429-.575-1.004 with 5 HR and 20 RBI, and he is on a 30 HR pace. He has two 2-HR games so far with 3 of his HRs coming against LH pitchers.

One of Ethier's weaknesses last year was hitting vs. LH pitchers. In 136 ABs vs LHers, Ethier hit only .243-.328-.368-.692, with 3 HR and 15 RBI. In April, Ethier is hitting LHers to the tune of .286-.375-.762-1.137 in 21 ABs, which is pretty close to how he is hitting vs RHers-.305-.448-.500-.948 in 52 ABs.

Ethier has batted anywhere from 2nd to 6th in the Dodgers lineup, but has batted cleanup for the most part. In 42 ABs as the cleanup hitter, he is hitting .333-.473-.476-.949 with 11 BBs and only 6 strikeouts. He also like the friendly confines of Dodger Stadium as he is hitting .391-.464-1.000-1.464 in 23 ABs.

Now, I am sure Ethier won't continue hitting close to .400 at home, but if he can continue hitting .275-.280 vs. LHers this year, and continue to hit more line drives and flyballs (which he has shown so far), he will come very close to hitting 30 HRs.

My question to faketeamers is this: can Ethier be an All-Star in 2009?

Poll

Will Andre Ethier hit 30 HR and become an All-Star in 2009?

Yes, in that lineup he can go 30-100-.300.

117 votes

No, he won't continue to hit LHers like he did in April.

27 votes

144 votes | Poll has closed

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Comments

Ethier can be one of the greats

Ethier is really a special hitter, however the one negative that he DEFINITELY needs to change to take the next step towards being a true superstar is cutting down on his GIDP. I believe he leads the league. What is truly scary is he is leading the dodgers in RBI yet he keeps GDIP, in fact he did that in yesterday’s game vs. the Padres with the bases loaded. If he brings those numbers down to even last years average, he could be pushing Pujols for the RBI lead in the league.

by Manning4Prez on May 1, 2009 7:31 PM EDT reply actions